


The Road Less Traveled

by lunarlychallenged



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: But not quite, F/M, sort of enemies to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 15:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15844560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarlychallenged/pseuds/lunarlychallenged
Summary: “hiya! love your writing, but i need more marwan fics!! would you be able to write a oneshot where y/n is friends with the mathletes but marwan is like awkward and blunt around her and she thinks it’s cause he hates her but it’s actually that opposite?? thanks hon!! Xo”





	The Road Less Traveled

“That’s not right,” you said, glancing up from your phone. “The third problem, I mean.”

At the front of the room, Marwan paused. He looked back at you, then at the series of math problems he was solving on the board, and scowled. “No, it isn’t.”

“It is,” you insisted, and the other Mathletes scanned the problem too.

After a second, Tyler made a sound of realization. “She’s right, dude. You got the math right, but didn’t add ‘c.’”

Marwan scowled, but corrected the mistake. “Why is she even here? This is a Mathletes practice.”

“Because I wanted to hang out with my boys,” you said, eyes on your phone again. “If they’re in Mathletes practice, I’m in Mathletes practice.”

“If you joined the team, it would make more sense,” he griped.

Kevin slung an arm around your shoulders. “You don’t need to join to hang,” he promised. “You’re the mascot. And what a mascot you are, babe.”

You laughed. “Besides, I’m here for you guys. Not for the math.”

“Then don’t correct my work.”

“Then don’t mess up your work,” you snapped back. “But if you really want to get problems wrong, be my guest.”

The room fell silent, aside from the squeak of the whiteboard marker. After a pause, without turning around, Marwan broke the tension. “Do the rest of them look right?”

The three of you okayed the problem set. Marwan only thanked the boys directly, but he shot a quick, curt nod your way. You had to fight back a scowl, but it was victory enough.

 

 

“Kev?”

“Yeah?”

You bit your lip, hating that you were about to ask, but feeling like you ought to. “Should I stop crashing at your practices? Like, is that inappropriate?”

“No, why?” Kevin had been brainstorming a rap for the creative aspect of some presentation, but he dropped the notebook to pay better attention to you.

“Marwan -”

“Oh,” Kevin said knowingly. “Is my boy giving you grief?”

You snorted. “No - well, yes, but I hardly care.”

“Then why are you asking?”

“Because if it’s an actual problem, I don’t want it to become a big thing.” There was always something with Marwan, at least when you were around. You weren’t a member of the Mathletes, so you shouldn’t be at practices. Of course you liked that book/movie/song; everybody did - how predictable.

“Marwan likes you,” Kevin assured you.

“He doesn’t act like it.”

“He’s got the social skills of those aliens in Galaxy Quest. He also has the loyalty of them.”

You gave a half smile at that. “If only he had the charm.”

Kevin laughed. “He does when you aren’t there. He just doesn’t know what to do with you.”

You didn’t really believe Kevin about Marwan liking you, but you decided to keep going to Mathletes practice. That was his problem - you wouldn’t stop hanging out with people who did enjoy your company because of one person who didn’t.

 

 

Y/N: pro-tip: making a sign that says “I'll take you to your limit if you show me your end behavior” does not go over well with parents at your competitions

Marwan: you didnt

Y/N: look over here

Kevin: turn around and show my parents. theyll love it

Marwan: jesus christ Y/N. we cant take you anywhere

Y/N: <3

 

 

You weren’t that picky about homeroom t-shirts - you would hardly wear it, and it wasn’t like you felt all that attached to yours - but you would die before letting the winning design have SWAG written on the back.

Yours would have to be better.

Everybody in the class had been given a paper with the outline of a shirt on it, and all of you were supposed to spend homeroom brainstorming class shirts. It was stupid, it was a waste of time, and you threw yourself into in wholeheartedly. 

“I heard that Cunningham’s class is putting his face on their shirts, Andy Warhol style,” you commented to nobody in particular.

It seemed, of course, that Marwan was the only person to have heard. “Probably because the girls all have crushes on him.”

“Maybe,” you admitted. “I would wear a shirt with his face on it.”

Marwan rolled his eyes, writing your graduation year on his shirt design. “Of course you would.”

“He’s funny, and he’s smart. That’s the best combination.”

“Not because he’s attractive?”

You shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt.”

A girl near you agreed, and you shot a triumphant look at Marwan.

“There are plenty of smart, funny guys that don’t get put on shirts,” he countered. “You can’t blame me for thinking that was the entire point.”

“And you can’t assume that I’ll have the exact same thought process as every other person!” You grabbed a colored pencil and started coloring, perhaps more violently than necessary. “You and I hang out all the time, and regardless of what you think of me, you should know that I’m a little less shallow than that.”

“Sorry,” he said softly.

The rest of the period passed with neither of you talking, but it only made you angrier. There was nothing wrong with thinking someone was attractive enough to be on a shirt. You felt no shame about that. That being said, you wouldn’t wear a shirt if you didn’t like the person on it. How low was his opinion of you?

“Y/N, your shirt -”

“What?” You snarled the word, and there was a second of intense satisfaction when his eyes widened.

“I just - I wanted to tell you that it was a nice design. I’d vote for it.”

“Oh.” You grimaced, more at yourself than at him. “I - thanks.”

 

 

“Marwan, I need immediate help, and you are the only person who I can ask,” you said seriously.

Startled, he pocketed his phone. “What is it?”

“Should I wear my reindeer pajamas for Pajama Day, or the pumpkin ones?”

Marwan had looked ready to leap into action, which was commendable, but now his shoulders drooped and brow furrowed. “I thought this was an emergency.”

You snorted. “It is, dummy. This is probably the most serious decision I’ll make in my entire life.”

“It’s November. Neither one is in season,” he said. 

“Marwan, I swear to God, if I can’t count on you -”

“Pumpkins,” he decided. “Pumpkins are better.”

You tapped your temple. “A Halloween man. I like it.”

He sighed, but it was half a laugh. “I can’t believe I thought you had a serious need.”

“Don’t belittle what I see as serious,” you said. “I helped you guys come up with rhymes for the talent show, and you only got to perform the first three seconds of the rap. I spent hours on that.”

Marwan’s feet shuffled, and you knew that you had him. “We don’t talk about that.”

“I do,” you said with a grin. “And I always will. You guys are losers.”

“Losers that you hang out with.”

“At least I have cool pajamas.”

That afternoon, you cautiously turned to Marwan to see if he wanted to be your partner on an assignment. He met your eyes, and promptly turned around to partner with somebody else.

 

 

Kevin: not gonna make it today, srry

Y/N: illegal

Kevin: my parents invited family friends over without telling me

Tyler: you know they told you

Tyler: you just didn’t listen

Marwan: this myth has been busted

Kevin: Tyler is one to talk

Kevin: he was invited over

Y/N: I L L E G A L

Y/N: whats the point of seeing the movie if half the group cancelled?

Kevin: seeing the movie, you psycho

 

 

You scowled at your phone. You knew Kevin was right - if you cancelled now, even with a good reason, it would look like you just didn’t want to hang out alone with Marwan. Sure, that was the truth, but Marwan was the douche canoe. You didn’t need to stoop to his level.

You showed up at the theater to wait for him, half expecting him to be the one that doesn’t show up.

Maybe he was assuming the same thing, because he looked exhausted when he saw you standing by the entrance. 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood: you could antagonize Marwan all evening, thereby rationalizing his obvious dread, or you could make this as easy on him as possible.

You took the one less travelled by, though you couldn’t be sure that it would make any difference.

You grinned at him, pushing off the wall to meet him halfway. “Good thing we didn’t buy tickets online, huh?”

He blinked at you, and though he didn’t smile outright, the tired lines around his eyes receded some. “Seriously. I’m not surprised Kevin bailed last minute - he’s the worst, and we knew what we signed up for - but Tyler is usually better than that.”

“Pretend we did buy them online - who would you have wanted to give the extra two tickets to?”

“I don’t know,” he said. He held the door open for you on the way in. “I might have just tweeted that I had extras, and let people fight for them.”

“Right,” you snorted.

“What?”

“Do you really think that people would fight over tickets to see 2001: A Space Odyssey?”

“It’s a classic!” He said the words as though they were sacred.

“That doesn’t make it good,” you argued. 

“It’s the greatest movie of all time!”

You raised your hands in surrender. “I know it’s great - but since when have classics been good just because they’re classics? I’ve watched plenty of things just to be able to say I’ve seen them.”

Too your surprise, Marwan gave a hesitant nod. “Yeah, maybe. This isn’t the type of movie Cady and Aaron would go to on date night.”

You looked around at the people walking in with you: nerds and old people wandered around the lobby, buying tickets and snacks. “How romantic.”

Marwan gave a snort of laughter, and you counted it as a victory.

“Besides,” you continued. “I’m not sure I’d want to play third wheel to them in a movie like this. I don’t know if they make out in theaters, but I don’t want to see if they do.”

“You wouldn’t be a third wheel,” he said, taking two tickets from one of the workers. “I’d be here.”

You looked at the tickets, surprised. “I was going to pay for mine.”

Marwan froze, a deer in headlights. “It’s no big deal.”

It was a big deal. Friends don’t buy friends movie tickets without talking about it, not usually, and you and Marwan were hardly friends at all. You were acquaintances. Colleagues.

“I’m buying the snacks, then,” you declared. Marwan smiled, and it seemed like he had won ground you hadn’t realized was up for grabs.

 

 

“I can’t believe you eat before the movie starts,” you hissed.

“I’m hungry,” he said, and punctuated the words by eating a handful of popcorn.

“It’s half gone! I’m going to starve.”

He rolled his eyes, lips twitching into a smile. “Fine - I’ll go get a refill.”

You settled back into your seat, sipping at your drink while you watched a pre-preview segment about building the sets for some action movie starring Tom Cruise.

“Hey.”

You glanced into the row behind you, and were confused when you didn’t recognize the person speaking. “What?”

“Do you and your boyfriend always argue like that? You’ve been fighting about whether water is wet or not for fifteen minutes.”

“It isn’t! Liquids make things wet; they aren’t wet themsel - wait, he’s not my boyfriend.” You frowned at the person. 

The unwelcome commenter smirked. “Sure looks like he is.”

“I think I would know if I was on a date,” you countered.

“You’d think he would know if he wasn’t.”

When Marwan came back, you side-eyed him. He brought back two popcorns, and when you raised an eyebrow at him, he shrugged. “I ate most of the one, so I got you your own. You don’t have to share it with me.”

You took it from him, stomach kicking. He bought your ticket, and now he bought you snacks. Marwan didn’t like you, and you thought that you knew that, but it was hard to hate him back when everything seemed skewed.

You should punch that person in the face. There was nothing more confusing than people calling reality into question.

 

 

You had been planning to take the bus home, but Marwan insisted on driving you.

“You never know what kind of creeps are out at night,” he reminded you.

“Us, apparently.”

He was a cautious driver, and sometimes your hands itched to take the wheel. “I’m getting you home safe,” he said through gritted teeth. “If something bad happens, it’s my fault, and that’s not okay.”

“I won’t blame you,” you said, a little touched. Then, when you decided that you were too touched, “I’ll be dead.”

“On second thought, you can take the bus.”

“On second thought, I’ll stay. I’ll make you stew in your hatred all night long,” you shot back.

He glanced at you for a second before looking back at the road. “I don’t hate you. It’s, like, mild annoyance at best.”

You frowned. “That sounds fake, but okay.”

“Wait - do you seriously think that I don’t like you?”

“I don’t think; I know you don’t like me,” you said.

Marwan gave a bewildered laugh, and you thought of what the person in the theater said. “You haven’t been so wrong in your entire life. Seriously, the opposite thing is true.”

“Opposite of hating me?” You scoffed, putting on a high pitched croon. “So you loooooooove me?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Marwan, that isn’t funny. I already knew that you weren’t funny, but this -”

“I’m not joking,” he mumbled. 

You tried to swallow, but your throat wouldn’t work. “Still not funny.”

“I just - I don’t know how to talk to you,” he said with a grimace. “I mess it up every single time, and I know where I mess up, but I have no idea how I get there.”

“Usually by talking. In general, really.”

“Y/N,” he said. “I’m serious. I really like you. Like, everything about you, all the time. Even the stupid things - I wouldn’t change any of them. I’m not good at showing it, so I usually ignore you, but I do like you.”

“So act like it,” you said, and cringed. “Sorry, that was mean. But if you like me, and I think that you hate me, that’s probably a good reason to change what you’re doing.”

“What would you recommend?”

“Say, ‘hey, Y/N, when I act like a jerk, it’s because I want to hold your hand. That, and I’m allergic to saying nice things.’” You grinned at him when he looked at you again, but it was cautious. These were unexplored waters, and the two of you had been bad enough at navigating the known territory. “Say, ‘Y/N, I’m sorry that there was a misunderstanding. Now that we’re on the same page, please help me figure out what to say if I’ve messed something up.’”

“Okay,” he said. “Y/N, I like you a lot. I want to hold your hand. I want to go to movies with you, and I want to see you places without thinking I should leave before I start World War Three.”

“Okay,” you echoed. “Marwan, I like you a little bit, sometimes. You can’t hold my hand yet, we can go to movies, and you should talk to me when you see me. If you can act like an actual friend, we’ll see about the holding hands.”

He smiled, and you wondered how you had ever thought he hated you at all.

 

 

You didn’t start liking Marwan immediately, just because he apparently liked you. That would have been unrealistic after years of assuming that the two of you were probably in the middle of a nemesis origin story. You were pleasantly surprised to find out that Marwan was on the same page.

He didn’t invite you to go stargazing, but he texted you to look outside when he knew Mars was going to be there.

He didn’t try to ask you out on study dates, but he partnered with you in class assignments and stayed after school to work on them.

He took things slow, and he slowly improved.

 

 

Marwan: i cant believe youre crying during Wonder Woman

Y/N: i cant believe youre on your phone during class

Marwan: its homeroom

Y/N: shes such a good person

Y/N: and Steve Trevor deserved better

Marwan: because he’s smart and funny?

Y/N: bc hes super hot, actually

 

 

“You have glitter in your hair,” Marwan said during Mathletes practice.

“Yeah,” you said with a sheepish grin. “It turns out that I’m ‘not responsible’ and ‘have trouble using materials the way they’re supposed to be used.’”

Kevin reached over and ruffled your hair, sending a shower of glitter onto the floor. “I’m not cleaning that up,” he said.

“You’d better,” you warned. “You did that.”

“Not my glitter, not my problem.”

You grimaced at your shoulders. “I’m like a disco ball. Anybody have a flashlight?”

Tyler laughed. “How fast can you spin?”

“It’s all over your face,” Marwan said with a wry grin. “You look like you went clubbing.”

“Ah, my cover is blown.”

He leaned in and frowned, trying to wipe it off your face with his fingers. “Jesus. This isn’t coming off.”

“This is my new look,” you said, ignoring the stares from Tyler and Kevin. 

“As good as it is, you should probably go shower.”

You shouldered your backpack, sighing. “I know. I just thought I’d hang out with my boys. Later, losers.”

On your way out, you heard Kevin ask what all of that was about.

“I like her,” Marwan said, a smile in his voice. “And I think she might like me, a little bit.”

 

 

You told Marwan that you wanted to take it slow, and you stood by that statement. You hadn’t wanted to throw yourself in headfirst. That being said, you also wanted to kiss him, so his willingness to be just friends was infuriating.

When he took you to see another movie, you wished he would offer to pay for your ticket.

You wished that he would eat too much popcorn, and that you could tease him about it. 

You wished that he would hold your hand during the movie.

After it ended, while he drove you home, you wished that he would have trouble watching the road because he wanted to watch you instead.

“Marwan?”

“Yeah?” He checked his blind spot before changing lanes, jaw sticking out a little while he moved.

“I like you a lot.”

He grinned. “I like you a lot, too.”

“I want you to hold my hand,” you said.

“Right now? I’m trying to get you home safe, Y/N. Like I said before - I won’t let anything happen to you -”

You leaned over and pressed a tentative kiss into his jaw. It had still been jutting out, and the sharp angle of it softened in his surprise.

“Pull into a gas station or something,” you said. “I want to hold your hand.”

There was nothing cautious about his haste to pull over, and there was nothing weary or nervous about the smile on his face when he did.


End file.
